UK no defence against Iranian missiles – warnings London could be hit | World | News
Iran has sparked fresh World War 3 fears after it was revealed that its long-range missiles are capable of reaching European cities. Tehran targeted the UK-US Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands with intermediate-range weapons this week, before the Government gave the US permission to strike missile strikes blocking the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. The base lies 2,360 miles from Iran, beyond the 1,240 mile radius that was previously thought to be the regime’s maximum reach.
Israel warned on Saturday night that European capitals were also “within direct threat range” of Tehran’s new long-range missiles, including London which lies 2,750 miles from the Middle Eastern country. Defence experts have warned that in the case of a ballistic missile attack on UK soil, Britain would be forced to depend on American SM-3 defence systems in Eastern Europe or the Patriot missiles used by Germany to intercept the rockets.
The UK has no dedicated system to shoot down long-range missiles over its own territory, with a defence network designed to monitor drones, aircraft and cruise missiles.
Steve Prest, a retired Royal Navy commodore, told the Daily Mail: “Ballistic missiles are space rockets. They launch, they go really high up and they come down really fast. if you’ve got a space programme, you’ve got a ballistic missile programme.”
“We have been saying it: The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat … with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin,” the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
The Israeli military claimed new long-range ballistic missiles were capable of reaching around 2,500 miles (4,000 km).
One of the missiles launched at Diego Garcia on Friday was shot down by a US warship while the other failed in flight, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It is not clear exactly when the two intermediate-range missiles were fired, with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) so far declining to comment on when the attack was launched.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “come clean” about the details and accused him of “dithering and delaying” on the Iran conflict “from the outset”.
She said: “Now we find out, from the media and not the Prime Minister, that the British base on Diego Garcia has been the target of Iranian missile attacks.
“The Prime Minister needs to immediately come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops and explain why the public weren’t informed sooner.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemed the strikes on Diego Garcia on Saturday, but stressed that the UK will not be drawn into a wider conflict.
The UK has agreed to hand sovereignty of the islands back to Mauritius and lease back the base, which has been used as a launchpad for operations in the Middle East for years.
The Israeli warning about Iranian missile capabilities came as Tehran escalated attacks on its Gulf neighbours in recent days, while maintaining a stranglehold on shipping in the Strait.
Early on Sunday, US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iran had 48 hours to “FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT” the vital trade route, or his administration would “obliterate” its power plants.
